I Don't Blame You

"I Don't Blame You" is a rock song by the American singer/ songwriter, Cat Power (also known as Chan Marshall). It is the first song on her 2003 album, You Are Free.

Background

"I Don't Blame You" was the last song written for You Are Free. "I remember when I was at the piano and we were mixing and I kept playing it over and over and over while no one was there," Marshall revealed in a 2003 Pitchfork Media interview. "They were playing ping-pong and stuff. So I just asked, 'Can I record this song real quick?'" In the same interview, Marshall revealed that "I Don't Blame You" was her favorite song on the album because "it's the freshest in my memory." ^[1]

Three years later, Marshall's affection for the song had not diminished, and she cited it as her favorite song to perform live, in an interview with Salon.com.^[2]

In an interview with Helter Skelter, Marshall revealed that she wanted "I Don't Blame You" to be a single.^[3] However, no single was released for the song, and a music video was never made.

A live version of the song, performed by Marshall on electric guitar in the countryside, appears on the 2004 Cat Power DVD, Speaking for Trees.

Meaning

The song tells the story of a rock star who is destroyed by fame. Some have speculated that it was written about Kurt Cobain.^[4] Marshall has neither confirmed nor denied this, though she did sadly discuss Cobain's 1994 suicide in an interview with Nylon, saying she would deal with fame the same way he did.

When asked who the song was about in an interview with Helter Skelter, Marshall replied, "You'll have to take a guess." When asked specifically if it was about Cobain, Marshall replied, "It could be anybody!" She revealed that she had only told one person who the song was about, and that "they couldn't believe it because they thought it was me…and then [they] saw it in a whole different way!" ^[5]

"I'll never tell you what that song is about," she told Salon.com in 2006. "That feeling of not being understood, but supposedly being understood by everyone ... being inside of a spectacle, it's like being a prisoner of war. I don't know if that makes sense. It would be like being in an insane asylum, where you are who you are, and the only person you've ever been is yourself, but then they want you to be someone else." ^[2]

Reception

"I Don't Blame You" was ranked # 158 on Pitchfork's "Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s" in 2009.^[6]

Cover versions

The song was covered by Onetwo on their 2007 album, Instead.

References

1. ^ Perez, Rodrigo (2003-01-03). "Interviews: Cat Power | Features". Pitchfork. http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/5889-cat-power/. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Joyce, Cynthia. "The cat comes back - Cynthia Joyce". Salon.com. http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2006/09/30/marshall/index.html. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
3. ^ "Cat Power". Viviane.vog.free.fr. http://viviane.vog.free.fr/cat4uk.html. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
4. ^ "You Are Free Review". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/318257/you_are_free. Retrieved 2006-08-29. 
5. ^ "Cat Power". Viviane.vog.free.fr. http://viviane.vog.free.fr/cat4uk.html. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
6. ^ By Pitchfork, August 18, 2009 (2009-08-18). "Staff Lists: The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s: 200-101 | Features". Pitchfork. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7686-the-top-500-tracks-of-the-2000s-200-101/5/. Retrieved 2011-10-07.